Today, while with my friend Thomas Bonk at a bar called La Rocca's at Chestnut and Columbus in San Francisco's North Beach, and making the first videos of what will soon be the Thomas Bonk Show, I had the pleasure of meeting a boxing legend. The Fighter: Irish Pat Lawlor, a San Franciscan who fought, on-and-off, between 1987 and 2005, and in some of the most memorable matches in boxing history.
But, even while posting what became a 23-16-1 (7 KOs) record, Lawlor's never-say-die attitude and winning personality carried him through. His determination allowed him to later (in my video) describe his win over the intimidating Roberto Duran as "easy." It also caused him, at one point, to run for San Francisco Mayor on what was described as an "arch-conservative, anti-gay platform."
But all of that, some 20 years ago, seems well in the past, and Lawlor's a far more willing to go-along to get-along today. The kind of guy who will buy the bar a round and engage in friendly banter, as he did today.
Of late, Lawlor's become known for "The Boxer's Poem," that he recited in the video without a break and for just over 3 minutes. It's a riveting poem Lawlor delivers in a riveting way, and starts like this:
Sometimes I think it's a lowdown shame
the way I try to hang in this rough, crazy game
My body is aching, my hands and feet are sore.
And I'm getting really tired of pulling myself up off the floor
It all started as a tribute to a friend ...
From my research my video is the first to have Lawlor actually speaking a poem only written about before.
The variation of the poem Lawlor tells today is different from the one recorded in text in 2001. It focuses more on the loss of a friend than the prostitute that the boxer sometimes is. This version, the 2011 version, is softer and more touching that before, but packing no less of a punch.
Irish Pat Lawlor's still got it, just in a different way.